40, Exploration

If one were to ask a "township test-taker"—someone from an ordinary or impoverished family—what their childhood dream was, the answer would almost always fall into one of two categories.

First, to earn a great deal of money, buy all sorts of strange and curious toys, and eat the snacks they could never bring themselves to afford.

Second, to become a scientist. They might not have known exactly what a scientist did, but they all believed it to be a noble profession.

Huang Tian was no exception. Having repeatedly achieved perfect scores in math and English throughout elementary school, he was encouraged by his parents, relatives, and teachers to study hard and become a useful talent for society. It was then that he made up his mind to become a great scientist.

Later, in middle and high school, his grades remained at the top of his class. However, his hometown of Boyang was a poor place with mediocre educational standards. Even though he ranked at the top of his grade, he still lagged far behind the elite students from the city and province, eventually only managing to get into the mathematics department at Chang University.

During his undergraduate years, he had thought about giving his all to his studies, striving for a recommendation for graduate school or a doctorate. Yet, the pressure of finances forced him to abandon this impractical notion. He spent his time at school juggling various part-time jobs, and the moment he graduated, he plunged headlong into the bizarre and kaleidoscopic factory of society.

Hmm, and then, a little over a year later, he was laid off.

In the bookstore, Huang Tian placed Modern Algebra back on the shelf and thought to himself, Round and round, everything has returned to the starting point...

Cultivation seeks freedom and the absence of regrets.

Since I've been laid off anyway, I might as well walk this path. Regardless of how you look at it, top-tier mathematicians and scientists never lack status, position, or wealth...

Moreover, he wanted to use modern scientific research environments to try and study what exactly spiritual energy, cultivation, and magical power were. Besides, on Blue Star, he wondered if one could walk paths other than spiritual cultivation—such as genetic modification, powered exoskeletons, or digital immortality...

He possessed an abundance of curiosity regarding these things.

First, I will achieve some success in the field of mathematics. Once I have fame, I will delve into other fields...

The corners of Huang Tian's mouth curled upward. In a good mood, he slowly searched the bookstore for other mathematics books, but after a full circle, he only found a copy of Functions of a Complex Variable with a slightly yellowed cover.

He took the book and sat on the soft sofa on the west side. As the gentle light spilled onto the pages, Huang Tian turned them unhurriedly, his brain rapidly recording the knowledge within.

In less than half an hour, Huang Tian closed the book, leaned his head back against the sofa, and looked at the plain ceiling. All the content from the book he had just read surfaced in his mind, and this knowledge interacted with what he had learned before, deepening his understanding of mathematics by another notch.

A long while passed.

Buzz~

His phone vibrated once. Huang Tian knew Zong Wenjun had finished buying the Kun Tea. He stood up, returned the book to the shelf, and walked out of the bookstore toward the Kun Tea shop.

"Over here, over here!"

Zong Wenjun wove through the crowd, smiling as she handed him a "pot" of Kun Tea. "This is your Waguan Fuliang Snow Mountain!"

Huang Tian took it and realized that this Kun Tea was actually served in a clay pot. On top was a layer of whipped cream, sprinkled with fine chili powder, while underneath was Fuliang Black Tea. It looked exquisite and cute.

Of course, because it was a clay pot, it felt quite heavy in his hand—much heavier than a standard plastic cup—and once the milk tea was finished, it could be washed and used as a jar at home.

"I remember when I came here during my junior year, Kun Tea was still served in bamboo tubes. I didn't expect it to have changed."

Huang Tian took two bites of the whipped cream on top; it wasn't too sweet or greasy, and the chili powder had no heat at all—it was purely for decoration.

He took a sip of the black tea and said solemnly, "The taste of the black tea hasn't changed, though. It's refreshing."

Zong Wenjun laughed, "If the owner of the Kun Tea shop heard you say that, he'd definitely be jumping mad, saying you don't know how to appreciate quality."

Huang Tian clicked his tongue, "I am but a vulgar person; I cannot appreciate these so-called elegant things."

As they chatted and laughed, the two wooden windows on the second floor of the Kun Tea shop suddenly pushed open, revealing a man and a woman. The man wore a white long-sleeved robe, a mask on his face, and held a wooden flute. The woman wore a pink dress, her face covered by a veil, with a guzheng placed before her.

The next second, the sounds of the flute and the guzheng rang out melodiously.

"It's Love Through the Ages!"

The young men and women downstairs excitedly pulled out their phones to take photos and videos. Zong Wenjun followed suit, snapping a few, then pointed her camera at Huang Tian, who was holding his Kun Tea, and clicked away several times.

The piece ended quickly, followed by another novel melody that drew more and more tourists to stop and listen.

Standing in a corner downstairs, Huang Tian listened for a while, finished his Kun Tea, and took out his phone to check the time: it was past 8:40.

"The lights at Tengwang Pavilion must be on by now. We can go see them."

"Let's go!"

The road was short, so Huang Tian and Zong Wenjun scanned two shared bikes by the roadside and rode toward the Tengwang Pavilion cruise terminal, the cool night breeze blowing against them.

They didn't plan on going up into Tengwang Pavilion, because to truly appreciate the night view of the pavilion, one had to look at it from the outside, and one of the best viewing spots was from the cruise ships drifting on the Gan River.

They hadn't ridden long before they reached the terminal. They arrived just in time for the nine o'clock cruise, bought two tickets, and followed the crowd in order onto a cruise ship with a distinctly ancient style, heading straight for the third-floor deck.

On the deck stood many enthusiastic tourists, the click-click of cameras sounding one after another. A female tour guide in her thirties was explaining the history of Tengwang Pavilion, Chang City, and the Gan River to the visitors.

"...Tengwang Pavilion was first built in the fourth year of the Yonghui era of the Tang Dynasty. It was founded by Li Yuanying, the Prince of Teng and son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, during his tenure as the Governor of Hongzhou. It became world-famous due to the Preface to Tengwang Pavilion written by the early Tang poet Wang Bo, and is known alongside Yueyang Tower and Yellow Crane Tower as one of the three great towers of Jiangnan..."

"...In 202 BC, the Western Han general Guan Ying built a city here, calling it Guanying City. Over two thousand years, it has changed names many times, such as Yuzhang, Hongzhou, Longxing, and so on, until it was finally named Chang City during the Ming Dynasty..."

"...Everyone knows the river beneath our feet is called the Gan River, but I suspect many don't know how it got its name. Actually, in the pre-Qin period, the Gan River was called the Yanghan, and in the Han Dynasty, it was known as the Huhan..."

Woo—

A long blast from the ship's whistle drowned out the guide's explanation. The massive cruise ship slowly began to move, pushing aside layers of water as it gradually sailed into the center of the river.

The river flowed leisurely, the river breeze blew gently, and the high-rises on the east bank were lined with brilliant lights, looking like a cascading galaxy. On the west bank stood the tall, ancient Tengwang Pavilion, its lights shining bright and golden, as if it were a palace of jade.

"This must be what Wang Bo described as 'layers of peaks rising in emerald green, reaching above the clouds'..."

Zong Wenjun was immersed in the magnificent beauty of Tengwang Pavilion, but Huang Tian preferred the rippling river water.

The river reflected the moon, which was stirred by the cruise ship. As the ship passed, the water rippled, breaking the reflection, only for it to become whole again, the moon clear and bright.